Cut express toll lane costs

There is no question highway express toll lanes work to give motorists a smoother ride, as long as they are willing to pay for it. The question is, though, is it a good deal for the rest of us?

Financial projections suggest they aren't. State forecasts project toll express lanes to lose anywhere from $971,000 to $3.5 million over the next decade. In only one year, 2016, are they expected to turn a profit.

Those forecasts present a quandary. In a state that is perennially cash-strapped, can the state Department of Transportation continue to dig into trust funds to subsidize the express toll lanes on I-95 and other highways?

This Editorial Board supported the pilot program to establish the toll lanes — at the time dubbed "Lexus Lanes." We figured they were worth trying, and experience has proven that they indeed were. The lanes have proven popular and effective in improving the transit picture in South Florida.

State officials point out the lanes were intended to improve traffic flow, not be a money-maker. That's true, and we would point out, too, that another transportation option, mass transit, also doesn't generate money.

It's a price taxpayers pay for overall better transportation and commuter options. That's why we are willing to continue the experiment despite the significant costs forecast.

That said, we also don't believe it's an open-ended excuse to bleed tax dollars. The state has an obligation to reduce the red ink as much as it can.

Especially as Florida officials here and in Congress talk of expanding the express toll lane option to other urban areas in Florida, including I-4 in Orlando.

Rather than unwisely removing the toll lanes, we would urge the DOT to find ways to cut down on costs. Between now and 2022, DOT expects the expenditure related to the express toll lanes to increase from $15.7 million to $23.9 million. That spike outpaces the $6.6 million projected increase in revenues for the lanes.

That's quite a jump in costs. Curtailing the forecasted sharp increase would reduce the red ink gap, and the state needs to do so. The other option, increasing tolls, would discourage people from using the lanes, and prove counterproductive.

The express toll lanes, from a transit perspective, are a success. They give commuters an option, particularly during rush hour, and they are worth extending to other parts of Florida.

But to make the express toll lanes a hit for taxpayers, too, transportation officials must review their cost projections so that the lanes don't sap dollars needed for other transportation purposes.